Switch-instrument for railroad-signals



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SWITCH INSTRUMENT FOR RAILROAD SIGNALS. No. 403,619. Patented May 21,1889.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

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e G. 0. STEENBERGH.

SWITCH INSTRUMENT FOR RAILROAD SIGNALS.

N0. 403,619. Patented May 21, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE O. STEENBERGH, OF SYRACUSE, NEXT YORK.

SWITCH-INSTRUMENT FOR RAILROAD-SIGNALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,619, dated May 21,1889.

Application filed J ly 14, 1888. Serial No. 279,943. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Beitknown that I, GEORGE C. STEENBERGH, of Syracuse, in the county ofOnondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Switch-Instruments for Railroad-Signals, of which thefollowing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an electric-circuit making and breakingapparatus designed to be operated automatically with the shifting of theswitch-rails of railways, and specially.

adapted to be used in connection with the railway signaling apparatusfor which J. Harper Gibson has obtained Letters Patent of the UnitedStates No. 375,063, dated December 20, 1887, the apparatus shown in saidpatent employing two circuits with circuit-breakers arranged to beoperated, respectively, by the wheels of cars traveling in oppositedirections, a registering mechanism being connected with the twocircuits and arranged to receive reverse movements from the same, andthe circuit-breakers being arranged a proper distance apart on the road,so that in the passage of a train of cars over one circuit-breaker itwill register the number of wheels on one side of the train passed, andin the passage of said train with the same number of cars over the othercircuit-breaker will restore the registering mechanism to its originalcondition. A visual signal, being operated by the register ingmechanism, causes the signal to indicate danger by the first action ofthe registering mechanism and to return to a position indicating safetyby the complete reversed action of said registering mechanism.

It is obvious that in case one or more cars of the train are switchedonto a siding between the points on the road at which thecircuitbreakers are located the circuit breakers passed over by thetrain after leaving the switch will fail to actuate the registeringmechanism often enough to restore the visual signal to the positionindicating safety.

The object of my invention is to obviate the aforesaid defect, and atthe same time employ the aforesaid visual signals for protecting trainsrunning 011 the main track from running onto a siding which bynegligence has been left open to the main track; and to that end myinvention consists in the combination, with a block of railway maintrack and siding connected with the intermediate portion of said block,two electric circuits, circuit-breakers at each end of the blockactuated separately by the cars passing over the block of road,registering mechanism in the circuits and actuated in oppositedirections, respectively, by the circuit-breakers at opposite ends ofthe block, and signals actuated by the registering mechanism, of twocircuit-breakers connected, respectively, with the two circuits andactuated separately and respectively by the movement of the switch-rodin opening and closing the switch of the siding, and circuit-breakersconnected with the same circuits and arranged to be actuated by the carsentering and leaving the siding, all as hereinafter more fullydescribed, and specifically set forth in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a diagram of a block of railwaywith a siding provided with my improved signaling apparatus. Fig. 2 is aview illustrating the connection of the switch-instrument with theswitch-rail. Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of my improvedswitch-instrument. Fig. 4 is a detached side View of the plunger-headwhich operates the circuit-breakers of the switch-instrument; and Fig. 5is a transverse section on line 00 as, Fig. 3.

A represents a block of main track of a railway, and B a sidingconnected with the intermediate portion of said block by a switch, C.

D and D denote track-instruments or two sets of circuit-breakers similarto those shown in the patent to J. Harper Gibson, No. 375,063. They arelocated at opposite ends of the block of railway to be guarded, and thecircuitbreakers of each set are disposed reversed to each other, so asto be actuated separately and respectively by the cars passing inopposite directions. Two separate electric circuits, a

Z), connect, respectively, the circuit-breakers of one set with those ofthe other set, which are disposed conversely in relation to the firstset, so that a car passing the first set of circuit-breakers breaks onecircuit, and in passing over the second set of circuit-breakers Theinterrupted breaks the other circuit.

not limit myself.

currents through the two circuits are utilized 7 to operate,respectively, in opposite directions a suitable registering-instrument,T, an example of which may be seen in the patent to J. Harper Gibson,hereinbefore referred to, but to the specific construction of which I doThe movement of said registeringeinstrument in one direction received bythe breaking of one circuit through the instrumentality of-the firstcircuit-breaker registers the number of cars or car-wheels entering theblock of road, and the reverse movement imparted to saidregistering-instrument by the breaking of the other circuit at thesecond set of circuit-breakers counts off from the register the numberof cars or carwheels leaving the block of road. A suitable visualsignal, S, similar to that shown in the patent to J. Harper Gibson,hereinbefore mentioned, is electrically connected with and actuated bythe registering-instrument, so that the first movement of the lattersets the signal for danger and remains in this position until theregistering mechanism is turned back to its original position,when thevisual signal is restored to its position to indicate safety.Consequently, if one or more cars of the train are left in the block ofroad, the train in leaving said block will fail to restore the visualsignal to its position of safety, and by indicating danger it guardsagainst the accident of a following train running into the cars left onthe block.

' In order to maintain the described signal ing apparatus in its properoperative condition in places where a siding or switch is connected withthe block of main track and cars are switched thereat from the maintrack onto the siding, I provide a suitable switchinstrument, I,consisting, chiefly, of two circuit-breakers connected, respectively,with the two circuits a and b, a reciprocating rod actuated by theswitch-rod in opening and closing the switch, and a head on thereciprocating rod adapted to operate the two circuit-breakersalternately during the reciprocating motion of said rod. I prefer toconstruct said switch-instrument in the form illustrated in Fig. 3 ofthe drawings, in which 0 represents a rod connected to and extendinglaterally from the shifting-rail R of the railway-switch C. At the outerend of the said switch-rod c is erected a standard or frame, L, fromopposite sides of which project toward the center of the frame twometallic rods, d (1, one of which is electrically connected with thecircuit a by wire 6, and

the other is connected with circuit Z) by wire e. From opposite ends ofthe frame project flexible metallic bars f f, each of which lies withits free end normally upon one of the rods 01. The rods ff are connectedwith the circuits at and b and constitute the circuitbreakers," andbetween the same is arranged a stationary insulated double guide-cam, g,which is elongated in the direction of the frame L, and provided with aninsulated head,

Z, of the form of a dduble wedge, arranged between the twocircuit-breakingrods' f f. The vertical rod h receives a reciprocatingmotion by means of the switch-rod c and bell-crank 11' during theoperation of shifting the switch-rail to open and close the switch, andsaid reciprocating motion carries the head Z first between one side ofthe guidecam g and adjacent circuit-breaking rod f, and then backbetween the opposite side of the guide-cam and adjacent circuit-breakingrod. Each of the rods f is thus momentarily crowded laterally andallowed to spring back to its normal position. Under the free ends ofthe rods f f are inclined insulated blocks n n, which project with theirdeeper portions above the rods 01 01, so that in the lateral movement ofthe rods f f the latter are crowded away from the rods d d bythe blocksnot, and thus the circuits are broken. Besides the saidswitch-instrument I employ a track-instrument or a set ofcircuit-breakers,

H, similar to one of the track-instruments D, and connected with thesame circuits, at and Z). The track-instrument H is arranged at the sideof one of the rails of the siding B, near the switch 0, so as to causesaid trackinstrument to be actuated by all the cars or car-wheelsentering the siding, and since the said track instrument is in the twocircuits aforesaid the registering-instrument T is actuated likewise bythe latter track-instrument.

The operation of my invention is as follows: Assuming a train of carshaving entered the block of road, the track-instrument orcircuit-breaker D or D at the end of the block from whence the train hasentered has caused the registeringinstrument T to register the number ofwheels in the train and the visual signal S to be thrown into positionindicating danger. If, then, the train is switched off onto the sidingB, the switchinstrument I in opening the switch is caused to add onemore impulse to the registeringinstrument T, and the track-instrument orcircuit-breakers I-I cause the registering-instrument to receive anumber of reversing impulses corresponding to the number of wheelsswitched onto the siding. If the switching of the cars has beeneifectedby a so-called running switchi. e., by 1110- mentum and without runningthe entire train onto the switchthen the registeringinstrument has beenretraced to a registry corresponding to the number of wheels left on themain track plus one, which is the registry of the switch-instrument.Then by closing the switch the registering-instrument receives anotherreverse impulse and the registry corresponds with the number of wheelson the main track. Then in running the train out of the block the secondtrack-instrument on the main track causes the registering-instrument toreturn to its original position and the visual signal to assume itsposition to indicate safety. In case the entire train is run onto thesiding the track-instrument H causes the registering -instrument toreturn within one registry to its original position and the visualsignal remains in position to indicate danger until the switch is closedand turned to the main track. the siding onto the main track theregistering-instrument is caused to register the number of wheels insaid part of the train. Then by closing the switch and running the saidpart of the train out of the block of main track the secondtrack-instrument or set of circuit-breakers on the main track causes theregistering-instrument to move back to its original position and allowthe visual signal to resume its position to indicate safety.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a block of railway main track and sidingconnected with said block, two electric circuits, circuitbreakers ateach end of the block connected with said circuits and actuatedseparately by the cars passing over the block of road, registeringmechanism in the circuits actuated in opposite directions, respectively,by the circuit-breakers at opposite ends of the block, and signalsactuated by the registering mechanism, of two circuit-breakers separateand independent of the circuit-breakers at the ends'of the block andconnected, respectively, with the two circuits and actuated separately,one by the movement of the switch-rod in opening the switch of thesiding and the other by the movement of the switch-rod in closing saidswitch, substantially as described and shown.

The combination, with a block of railway main track and siding connectedwith In running a part of the train out ofv said block, two electriccircuits, circuitbreakers at each end of the block connected with saidcircuits and actuated separately by the cars passing over the block ofroad, registering mechanism in the circuits actuated in oppositedirections, respectively, by the circuit-breakers at opposite ends ofthe block, and signals actuated by the registering mechanism, of twocircuit-breakers separate and independent of the circuit-breakers at theends of the block and connected, respectively, with the two circuits andactuated separately, one by the movement of the switch-rod in openingthe switch of the siding and the other by the movement of the switch-rodin closing said switch, and circuit-breakers connected with the samecircuits and arranged at the side of the track-rail of the aforesaidsiding to be actuated by the cars entering and leaving said siding,substantially as described and shown.

3. In combination with the shifting-rail of a railroad-switch and a rodconnected to said rail, two electric circuits, two circuit-breakingbars, each in one of the aforesaid circuits and arranged side by side, adouble guide-cam secured stationarily between the said circuitbreakingbars and having its ends beveled in opposite directions from each other,a reciprocating rod, a bell crank. connecting said rod at one end withthe switch-rod, and an insulated double wedge secured to the oppositeend of the reciprocating rod and adapted to pass between thecircuit-breaking bars alternately at opposite sides of the stationaryguide-cam during the motion of the aforesaid reciprocating rod inopposite directions, substantially as described and shown.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name, in the presence oftwo witnesses, at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State ofNew York, this 26th day of March, 1888.

GEO. C. STEENBERGH. [L. 8.]

NVitnesses:

0. Il'. DUELL, MARK W. DEWEY,

